Subjective and objective quantification of physician's workload and performance during radiation therapy planning...

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Human Factors Engineering
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Physician workload is a critical factor in treatment planning and patient safety.
• Objective and subjective measures are needed to accurately assess workload.
• Understanding workload-performance relationships is essential for optimizing clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify and compare workload during physician-based treatment planning tasks.
• To evaluate both objective (pupil size, blink rate) and subjective (NASA-TLX) workload measures.
• To determine workload thresholds associated with potential performance decline.

Main Methods:

• Nine physicians completed treatment planning tasks on 'easy' and 'hard' cases.
• Objective workload was monitored via pupil size and blink rate.
• Subjective workload was assessed using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX).

Main Results:

• Subjective NASA-TLX scores were significantly lower for 'easy' cases compared to 'hard' cases.
• Objective measures did not consistently correlate with subjective workload, except for blink rate.
• Performance decline was observed at NASA-TLX scores of 55 or higher.

Conclusions:

• The NASA-TLX is a viable tool for assessing broad subjective workload in treatment planning.
• Objective, eye-based measures show potential for monitoring granular task workload.
• Subjective workload levels of 55 or greater on the NASA-TLX indicate a risk of reduced physician performance.